Paradise Cruise ::story 3::
by BlackFireProdigy
Summary: Hiei, Ume, Tsume, and Kurama are on a cruise to find two demons. They've stolen some of Spirit World's artifacts. Can the four find them and stop them in time? Are there really only TWO demons onboard? Read&Review! H&U, K&T. Title used to be: Tendou Kouko
1. Irony of Wolves and Dogs

YYH has won the poll! Well, in the last two stories, all the things happened in the middle of February to the end beginning of March. Now it's Easter already in YYH! Oh man, I didn't make a Valentines one…oh well! By the way, HAPPY SOON-TO-BE-EASTER! Or if the days have past, Happy-Late-Or-Very-Late-Easter! Oh, and you also need to read the first 2 YYH stories I've made to understand the characters and such. This is recommended, but if you don't mind getting very confused, go ahead and read! By the way, apologizes for this new story to take so long. This site didn't let me upload documents for some reason. Either that or my computer was acting up.

* * *

"I don't understand Easter." Ume said to Hiei. They sat on top of a hill looking down at kids who were scrambling to find hidden Easter eggs. It was just a few weeks after the last incident with the jewels. Ever since then things have been pretty quiet. 

"Many human holidays are pointless."

"True…"

The kids fell on their own feet and searched for eggs. Ume crossed her legs and watched them scatter. She looked to her left and saw Hiei looking at the kids. His eyes seemed to wander around. He turned to Ume and said something.

"What did happen that time?"

"What…?"

"…While Kurama and I were blacked out."

"Oh…that. Exactly what I said happened, nothing!" she scratched her head and slowly began to inch away.

"If it was anything dangerous, you would have told me, right?" his eyes stopped wandering and stared directly at Ume.

"Yes, yes. Of course Hiei." She waved her hand up and down while her other one was behind her back. She kept her fingers crossed.

Hiei looked away and grabbed Ume's hand. "There's something I wish to show to you."

Ume was confused. Usually she was the one grabbing Hiei by the hand and dragging him God knows where. She decided quickly that she mine as well let Hiei have a turn at it.  
-  
Tsume spotted an egg as she walked through the park with Kurama. She picked it up and saw a three small children running towards them. As they neared, the two boys knocked the third shot-haired boy down and asked innocently, "May we please have that egg miss?"

Tsume looked at the little boy who was on the grass, crying. She walked up to him, kneeled down, and handed the egg over to the boy. Now that she was closer to the boy, she saw his face clearly. His face looked girlish. Tsume looked at the boy closely and realized it was a girl! Tsume has seen girls with short hair before (Keiko and Ume are good examples) but this child's hair was above her ears. Way above her ears.

"Are you hurt?" she couldn't help but ask one more question. "Why is your hair so short?"

"Those boys cut it because they didn't want some girl with them. They are my friends."

"I see." Tsume turned to the small male children. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves, taking advantage of this little girl!"

The boys backed away. They were afraid they'd get into trouble and ran for it.

"I don't think they will bother you for a while now."

"But those two were my only friends…" the short-haired child wept even harder. "Now I'm alone again. Everyone thinks I'm some kind of a freak at schools. The girls don't like me because I play ball and like boy stuff but the boys don't like me because I'm a girl. It's not fair!"

"If that's what your problem is, you should get to know Ume. Same thing basically, except she has guy-friends…but she isn't her after all…" Tsume had the tendency of blabbing a lot. She eventually would catch herself.

Kurama stepped in. "You should try making friends that like what you do. Join a club or try and get along with more people. But one true friend you can have will be Kami here." Kurama used Tsume's human name. "She's one of the very best you can possibly ask for."

Tsume's face began to turn red uncontrollably. The kid looked up at smile. She nodded slowly and ran off, back to the group of kids from school in the park, still looking for eggs.

"I'm 'very best' am I?" Tsume remarked to Kurama.

"Did I say that?"  
-  
"Where are we going, Hiei?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Hiei dragged Ume out of town and to a dome-shaped building. Outside, there was a sign that read "Wolves and dogs tour! To celebrate Easter, free tickets to anyone who is interested."

Ume stared at it and looked disappointed. "You know I hate zoo, especially ones that keep wolves locked up…"

"This place is different. The owner guaranteed it."

"And if he was wrong…?"

Hiei didn't reply. They stepped closer to the massive building and got their free ticket. Inside, there was a crowd of 6 or 7 people already.

"You better appreciate this. I'm going somewhere with a group of normal humans for you."

"Then why'd you even bother taking me if you didn't want to associate with the humans?"

Once again, Hiei didn't reply.

A tour guide stepped in front of the people and led them through several doors. On the other side, it looked like the group had been transported to the forest. Trees were everywhere, cliffs, and even a small waterfall. The only thing that was out of place was a see-through wall, separating the room into two halves.

The tour guide spoke up. "This place was built to show the similarities of dogs and wolves. We think that since so many people like dogs, they might grow to like wolves and that would mean one less poacher. On the left of the wall, there are dogs, on the right, wolves. The wolves have been taught not to act in a violent matter now go ahead and get to know both animals. Also, please keep small children under supervision. Please follow me."

"Well," Ume stated, "It's different…"

The guide led the tourist and the townspeople to the wolf section first, then the dog section. Ume saw something moving in the nearby bushes. She went to check it out and Hiei followed. It was a wolf.

The tour guide, along with two guys with nets, rushed up behind Ume and Hiei.

"What's a wolf doing here?"

"This wolf always seems to escape from her proper section and comes over to the dogs but the dogs fear her. They know she doesn't belong, so they shun her. When that happens, the wolf gets violent, we then throw her back to her proper place and the wolves know she left them, so they don't care for her either."

As the guide was explaining the situation to Ume, the two guys tried to jump the poor wolf. She jumped out of the way, caught a hold of one of the nets with her teeth, and destroyed it. The she-wolf jumped up and got hold of the other net. The same thing happened. The men ran away like frightened, little girls.

Ume took a few steps closer to the wolf, extending her hand out, trying to reach the wolf's head. As her arm approached the animal, it bit her on the arm. Hiei took a quick step forward in anger, causing the wolf to jump back. Ume shot Hiei a glare that said "I'll be fine. Don't worry."

One again, she tried touching the creature, and got bitten. Ume continued with her slow approach and managed to get to the dog-like creature's head. She stroked it slowly, making barking noises at her (see story 2, chapter 3 for details on her second language). She did it so quietly that only Hiei was able to hear. The noises and repeated strokes seemed to calm the being down. The wolf barked back at Ume.

Ume turned to the guide and smiled widely. Hiei helped her up from the floor by grabbing her arm that wasn't chewed up. The two felt that it was getting late and that that was enough of the dogs and the wolves for one day. The guide gave them two free, lifelong passes in case they ever wanted to come back.

As they left, Ume said something to Hiei. Her words were so hushed that it seemed more like she was talking to herself than Hiei.

"Isn't that ironic? Wolves, signifying demons, and dogs, signifying humans, a wolf, wanting to fit in with dogs. Same situation."

"Hn. In this situation, the wolf managed to fit in with the dogs, and found others like herself." He looked up at the clouds and the setting sun.

"There's a big difference I guess. But I still wish I could help that wolf back there. I used to be the one with no friends before you guys. I feel sorry for her (the wolf), that's all."

"Yea, I do too." Hiei looked Ume, showing her fake smile again. "Quit doing that, will you?"

"Doing what?" Ume tried looking confused, but she knew what he was talking about.

"You're not fooling anyone."

"Maybe not…" she stopped 'smiling' and just looked at the clouds and sun with Hiei.

* * *

That was pretty good! Although I left Kurama x Tsume in the dark a bit…hmm…that should be fixed. What to do…what to do? Next chapter, the light will shift to them! There! That should solve everything...I hope…Don't hurt me…! 


	2. Briefing

Second chapter's here! Well...yea…cough, cough. Oh, and don't worry, the fighting and excitement will come, sooner or later, but for now, Hiei x Ume and Kurama x Tsume!

* * *

Tsume and Kurama watched the child join the other kids. Kurama gave Tsume a pat on the back and he left the park with Tsume, who was feeling good about herself. Not to mention that Kurama had said she was a great friend. That definitely made her day. She continued to march forward, smiling widely and bumped right into Kurama's back. She fell backward. Just guess who was the one who caught her? Kurama! 

"You should be more careful." He told her.

Tsume nearly fell on to the street, a busy street, with a lot of cars, fast cars.

"Yea, of course…Thanks for the help."

A car passed by in a hurry, as it did, it ran over a puddle of water. The water rose up and soaked Tsume.

Kurama took off his sweater and wrapped it around Tsume. "This just isn't your day, is it?"

Tsume hugged herself. She felt cold, but great. She didn't know why, but she supposed it had something to do with Kurama's jacket around her.

"Let's get you home. You shouldn't go around with wet clothes, you might catch a cold."

She nodded silently and went back to her apartment with Kurama, making sure she doesn't get into any more trouble. They arrived at Tsume's apartment to find Yusuke, Kuwabara, Ume, and Hiei there already.

"How'd you guys get in here?"

"Tsume, you should really hide your keys better, not to mention get a better lock on the door of yours." Ume said, blowing on her fingers. "The lock is old, it was just too easy."

"So why are you guys here?"

"Ko-Enma called us here for a meeting."

"King Emma's (Crud. Was it King Enma or King Emma? Let's just call him Emma) son, that Ko-Enma?"

"Yup, that's the one."

"How powerful is he? How tall? How much of Spirit World does he rule? How-"

"Please stop asking questions. You'll see soon enough." Hiei cut her off.

"If you look down that is…" Yusuke burst out laughing. Kuwabara joined him.

"Back to ignoring them…Botan will be arriving with Ko-Enma any second now." Ume said. A crash of the window was heard in the next room. "And there she is..."

They went into the next room, Tsume first, only to see Botan by herself with some box-like item with her.

"MY WINDOW!" She looked at Botan. "Where's Ko-Enma?" Tsume said eagerly.

"Why are you so impatient? Ko-Enma isn't that big of a deal."

"I've just always been wondering what Chapter Black (a video tape which has all bloody, bad, evil, cruel, etc things man-kind has ever done to demons, and when I say 'cruel' I mean it! Torture devices, anything you can think of…In tiny parts of it which is shown on YYH…well, the tape isn't pretty…) looks like."

"It's a video tape…"

"I meant 'I wonder if Chapter Black is as bloody and intense as I've heard it is.'"

"So you want to watch it?"

"Yea."

"Been there, done that."

"What? How?"

"Let's put it this way. Wolves have many ways of sneaking into Spirit World. I just asked some of them to steal the tape for a while." Ume snickered.

"No fair." She mumbled to herself.

Botan rose up to a table and placed the box thing on it. She opened it and there appeared Ko-Enma in the screen of the box.

He said to Tsume, "No, you may not see Chapter Black." He talked to Ume next. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that considering the fact that you haven't gone nuts and turned your back to us after seeing it."

"Once again, been there, done that (see story one for details on that)."

"That's Ko-Enma!" Tsume shouted ignoring the fact the two were talking. "You're joking right."

Yusuke and Kuwabara laughing even more and Botan hit them both over the head at the same time with her oar. (Heh, double hit!)

Ko-Enma ignored Tsume's statement and continued to assign the others their new mission.

(-Takes deep breath and starts typing like the wind-). "Two demons, female and male, have stolen from the vault of Spirit World and they have taken several priceless jewels and artifacts. They have bought tickets to a cruise to get to LA in America. The name of both the cruise and the boat is Tendou Koukou."

"Why?" asked Kuwabara.

"What better way to get to an open between human world and demon world than going on a cruise to the only available open since the last incident?"

"What incident…?"

Tsume and Ume looked up in the air and began to whistle innocently.

"As I was saying…you 6 will be divided into two groups. One will be sent to LA a few days before arrival, the other four will be on the cruise."

"Why can't we all go on at once?"

"And it's Kuwabara with the questions… Because it's a couple cruise. I don't think two of you guys would like to go together. Besides, if you and Yusuke were at school while the others weren't, it'd look less suspicious. Two boys will be in LA, the rest on the boat. We are not sure who exactly the demon couple is, so keep your eyes peeled for anything strange and demon-related. No doubt the demons will be pretending to be humans. Tsume, you will go with Hiei, Ume, you go with Kurama."

The two girls looked at each other, then the guys they were supposed to go on a lovers' cruise with. They looked back at each other.

"Switch?"

"Definitely." Tsume nodded.

Hiei stared off out a window, not paying any attention whatsoever. Why should he anyways? It was always the same. Get assigned something, beat up demons, and come back. Easy. He wasn't expecting the new twist, which he still didn't know about it.

Ume already knew he was daydreaming. She was about to tap him on the shoulder but decided not to tell him anything in case he didn't want to go. Ume refused to go to a cruise with Yusuke or Kuwabara. Of course, she wasn't planning on telling Hiei to snap out of his dream, if she did, he surely wouldn't want to go on the assignment.

Before the group had time to leave, Kuwabara knocked on Hiei's head, making fun of him for a few seconds. Hiei finally realized what he missed and why Kuwabara was making fun of him…and he nearly killed Kuwabara.

"I never agreed-" He didn't finish his sentence.

"Well, pack your bags you four. You're all going to on a cruise! You all have three days to pack up, make excuses at school, and all take care of all the things that needed to be taken care of." Ko-Enma interrupted hastily.

"Any words of advice before we leave, Ko-Enma?" Ume asked sarcastically.

"Just two: Don't die."

"Easy enough." Tsume put in; disappointed she didn't get Chapter Black.

"Let's just hope so." Kurama added.

Hiei was still trying to argue with Ko-Enma but the screen went blank, leaving poor Hiei.

Three days was more than enough time for Hiei, Ume, and Kurama to pack. Tsume was too worried about what she might wear for Kurama. Ume just stuck to the basics. Jeans, Tees, black, same old, same old. Tsume had to fill up two suitcases full of all sorts of junk. Finally, three days, past. The excuses were established, things were packed, and the four were ready to get on. The ship began to dock the harbor.

* * *

Poor Hiei... Next chapter will be at the cruise…or something. I'm not sure! Stop looking at me! O.O; 


	3. All Aboard

Yay! New chapter! Ok…leaving now…YAY…ok. NOW I'm shutting up…It's going to be (or was) a LONG Spring Break…ok…enough of me talking, go ahead and read people. Oh, and the whole 'stolen things on a cruise' thing was an idea I got.

* * *

They got aboard the ship. Hiei was last to get on. He probably wouldn't have if Ume hadn't been there, dressed from head-to-toe in black, looking up at the ship, with her simple luggage, longing for a vacation and Hiei didn't mind going on a small break. The plan was to relax until they made sure they found the demon couple they were looking for, but until then, it was easy sailing. 

Tsume turned her head and realized how huge the boat was. Right on the deck there was a huge pool with people sun-bathing all around it. Some were in it, escaping the heat.

"I can't wait to take a tip in there!" Tsume exclaimed.

"I just hope it's open late." Ume retorted.

"Why? No one is going to see your new bathing suit at night."

"That's the whole point."

"Well, I'm going to show off my bikini soon."

"Have fun with that…"

"What'd you buy anyways?"

"Two…piece…" she said, provoked...

Ume wasn't used to talk about much besides demons, fighting, techniques, and all that stuff. She hardly talked about girl things to…well…girls. She stayed to fighting and gangs and human disasters, not guys, shopping, and music. She wasn't planning on talking about that trash to anyone.  
-  
Hiei looked up at Kurama. "I envy you." (Heh, I just HAD to put that. I couldn't resist)  
-  
Ume grabbed a tiny card that was presented to her and her friend by a man. He also asked the two 'couples' questions about their rooms such as, "King sized bed or two separate ones?" and others. Eventually the questions were answered and each of the 'couples'' rooms were set up as if they were just friends on a cruise and were just forced to share rooms.

The group was shown to their rooms. The rooms were just across the hall from each other.

Tsume stretched out her arms and gave out a dramatic sigh. "I'm going to hit the pool."

"I hope you enjoy your visit. You will find that this cruise will be the ultimate in relaxation. You will be able to enjoy the pool, library, buffets and restaurants (Millie! –that's an inside joke-), shopping, and other things that you will surely enjoy. The boat will have everything you will need for your vacation." The man was standing at the hallway between the two rooms. He bowed and took his leave. Before he left he had one last thing to say. "In about one hour after departure, there will be a safety demonstration on the deck. You know, to show you where the life jackets are, and how to put them on and such. Please enjoy your stay."

"I'm going to unpack for a while." Ume said.

"I will too." Hiei said after.

"I shall head to the deck and see when we will be departing." Kurama affirmed.

"You are all so boring." Tsume complained. She went into the bathroom of hers and Kurama's room and began to change.

Hiei and Ume went into their room and Kurama left the hallway and headed to the top deck.  
-  
Ume took out the contents of her suitcase and all her clothes in a dresser. The dresser didn't even completely fill up. She then took out a small backpack she had on her back. She emptied its contents as well. Inside, there was nothing but toothbrushes and toothpaste and other simple items.

Hiei tucked away his clothes in a separate drawer next to his bed, separate from Ume's. He did the same as Ume, except he had no small backpack. All his things were in his single suitcase. He did have one long sports bag. Inside, he had his trusty katana (sword) and extra bandages just in case he had to cover his wound with new ones if his DOTDF (Dragon of the Darkness Flame) was used.

They soon stepped out of the room with 45 minutes left before the safety briefing. The two looked around the ship until they found the library. Ume looked inside. She saw four walls completely covered in books. Ume couldn't wait until she would be able to go through a few of them to see what she could find about wolf demons or her parents. She decided to wait until some other time.

The two then went to giant double doors down the hall. Hiei and Ume looked in and saw it was a dojo.

"Wow, that guy wasn't kidding when he said 'the boat will have everything' we need." Ume said, amazed. She grinned and pushed Hiei inside and then stepped inside too. She immediately grabbed a wooden sword on the wall and threw one to Hiei and challenged him to a 'friendly' match.  
-  
Kurama began to head for the deck but on the way, he spotted a group of girls. They started to point at Kurama and they approached him. The guys that were with the girls gave Kurama dirty looks. As the girls giggled their way to Kurama, Tsume came out of no where and grabbed his arm and led him the rest of the way to the pool but before the left, Tsume turned to the girls and started to scream.

"You bunch of worthless, lil, stupid bakas (idiots). Are you stupid? This is a lovers' cruise. It's common sense that this guy came with someone. Not to mention you pigs also came with people. You have no right no go off looking at other people!"

She continued to yell as Kurama pulled on Tsume's hair, dragging her to the deck. Kurama got her all the way to the edge of the now-empty pool. Everyone had left to look around the ship, unpack, and change into normal clothes for the safety presentation. Kurama bent down by the pool, got some water in his hands, and dumped in on top of Tsume's head. Smoke arose from her head and she began to calm down.

Tsume looked at Kurama. She began to grin. Tsume tackled Kurama into the pool and she started splashing and kicking water up at Kurama. Kurama dove under water to stop from getting splash. He got behind Tsume and splashed her back. Soon, there was an all-out war happening in the pool.  
-  
Some guy working for the cruise raised his hands in the air and let them down, shouting, "Begin!"

Ume swung her wooden sword down at Hiei but Hiei quickly got out of the way with his speed.

The guy just stood there, mouth open and his jaws were almost falling off. He couldn't believe how fast the two were.

Hiei swung his sword at Ume. She dodged and got behind him, ready to strike but he quickly turned around and 'cut' her in the stomach. The blow sent her flying across the room. Speakers that were set up around the whole boat began to boom loudly, "The safety demonstration will now begin. All guests please report to the deck within the next 10 minutes. Thank you for boarding Tendou Koukou."

Hiei stood above Ume and stuck out his hand. Ume grabbed it and was helped up. She looked down at the wooden sword Hiei was using previously. It had broken in half. She grabbed Hiei's and exchanged it with hers. Ume told the guy in the dojo that she would pay them back for the sword later and she dragged Hiei out of there before he could say anything.

They were halfway down the hall when Hiei stopped and the conversation began.

"You didn't have to stick up for me like that Ume."

"Like I was really going to let you kill the guy when he bills you for the sword."

Hiei didn't reply.

"Let's just go to the deck already."

Suddenly screams were heard coming from the deck and the two ran up as fast as they could.

* * *

Hooray for me. Another chapter! 


	4. The Dummy and the Art Boy

Well, I think the last chapter's end left you all in suspense, so I'll just continue on from there.

* * *

Once Hiei and Ume reached the top deck, they looked around and saw people running around frantically.

"I guess our demon has finally appeared."

"I doubt that. We barely left port. I don't think they would reveal themselves so early." Hiei told her.

A couple that looked like they were completely calm even though everyone else was going nuts. Another couple in about their late 40s ran by. Ume grabbed the arm of the woman and asked what the heck was going on.

"Some person fell over board," was the woman's reply.

"Who fell?"

"No one knows for sure." With that, she ran away.

Hiei and Ume looked behind them and saw Tsume jumping off the boat and dove head first into the water to save the person in the water. From the side, Kurama quietly used his Rose Whip and helped the two up. When Tsume and 'person' came back, the four were surprised to see the 'person' was nothing more than a test dummy used for the safety demonstration, the demonstration that he four interrupted.

"Thank you, kids, for saving our dummy there, but our staff was going to present how to save a man-over-board." A man appeared behind them.

Kurama turned his Whip back into a rose and hid it while Tsume dropped the dummy to the ground.

"Sorry about that." She apologized.

The man grabbed the dummy and threw it over board in front of everyone. People in the crowd laughed at the four, some congratulated them on their 'rescue', and others tried to ask how they saved someone that was in the water even though the deck was a good 20 feet from sea level.

The man continued with the safety demonstration for at least an hour, covering everything from a minor injury to a sinking boat. Once it was over, the people scattered and continued what they were doing before. Most people headed towards the pool. Ume was glad to find out the pool was open late.

They quickly left the moving crowd and headed towards Tsume and Kurama's room. They locked the door behind them and started to converse.

"Well, that was a weird presentation if you ask me." Ume began. "I can't believe they'd trick people into believing someone actually fell off the boat."

"You'd think these humans would be smart enough to know that if someone fell from that height into water, they would mostly likely have been knocked out and be sinking very quickly." Hiei retorted.

"Heh, they're humans. What cha gonna do?" Tsume joked.

"This cruise is strange. No wonder those demon thieves chose this particular cruise to get to the break in the barrier."

"What do you mean, Kurama?"

"It's just some weird feeling I have that there's just something not right with this place."

Hiei and Ume nodded. Tsume just stood there.

"Why am I the only one not having this weird feeling?"

"You just have less experience. Go through several more missions and you'll start knowing when something weird is up." Ume replied.

"When it comes right down to it, experience has nothing to do with it. You have less of it than Kurama and I do, but you know best when something bizarre is happening." Hiei half complimented, half insulted.

Ume stuck her tongue out and tapped herself on the back of her head gently. "That's true." She put her hands back down. "Anyways, did anyone notice the creepy couple who didn't even panic while a 'person' fell over board? They were completely calm. Does anyone else find that strange?"

The others nodded.

"That's right. I remember them now. That was strange. I wonder what was up with them." Tsume pondered.

"Two of us will be having fun while the other two look for the demons and keep an eye out for those strange couples. That way, we can enjoy our vacation and not have Ko-Enma breathing down our backs." Kurama announced.

Everyone else agreed. Tsume volunteered she and Kurama take the duty of investigating first.

Hiei and Ume once again went through the lower floors of the boat. The boat had a top deck, the engine at the very lowest floor, the control room (what ever that place was called), and everything between the deck and the engine were rooms and everything possibly imaginable for entertainment and relaxation.

They passed by an art room and Ume couldn't help herself but to look in. A pretty old woman was in charge there. Not many people were inside so as soon as Ume stepped in, the woman's assistant got Ume a chair, a canvas, and some paper. The assistant was a tall male with brown, wavy hair. The old lady, Miss Kyoko, told the boy, Hoshi, to help with some of the other people, although there were only two others.

Ume tried to object but Miss Kyoko wouldn't hear to it. She came up to Ume and told her that she should draw a model of something. "You can pick out anything in this classroom."

Ume began to turn to Hiei, to ask if he could model but he was already gone. Hoshi stepped up and told Ume he'd volunteer to model.

"Uh…ok…"

Hoshi sat down on a chair and Ume began to sketch.

"Was that the guy you came on the cruise with?" he said, after a while of silence.

"Yea, what's it to you?"

"Nothing much, really. The guy just seemed insensitive since he just left you like that."

Ume was nearly done. She had a habit of drawing the mouth of her drawings last. Miss Kyoko passed by and Hoshi stopped talking about Hiei.

"Ume, you have great potential." She said. She then left and Hoshi began to talk again, this time, not about Hiei.

"So, tonight, there will be a small get together on the deck. In other words, there's going to be a dance. Would you like to-"

Ume knew what was coming and she said something to interrupt the boy's request. "Stop talking for a while. I'm trying to draw your mouth."

"But-" Hoshi stopped and just shut up. He decided not to make Ume mad.

Ume was done in an instant, signed her name at the bottom along with the date and left immediately and said as she was leaving, "Tell Miss Kyoko I finished."

She got out the door quickly, turned to her left, and bumped right into Hiei. He had waited outside the whole time.

"What took you so long to get out here." He said as he got up.

"Art can't be rushed." Ume said jokingly as she picked herself up from the ground. They left and continued to look around.

Ume wasn't planning on going back there unless it was to restock on her supply of pencils and paper. She had her own art supplies so she didn't have to go back and have another encounter with Hoshi.

"What were you and that human talking about?"

"He just told me that I was good at drawing and stuff…" she lied to Hiei…again!

"You don't need a baka (stupid/idiot) human to tell you something that was completely obvious." Hiei managed to insult Hoshi and compliment Ume at the same time.

Ume was glad he didn't like Hoshi. There was no way he'd let her go anywhere near him again. She tapped on Hiei's shoulder.

"When we get back home, I'm going to make you a huge dinner for what you said." She smiled at Hiei.

Kurama and Tsume had followed the couple for some time already. Besides the fact that the two disappeared into some room with the captain for a long time, nothing seemed suspicious about them. Kurama and Tsume mentioned this in a restaurant at dinner. Ume and Hiei decided to follow the odd, supposedly human couple, instead of looking out for other things the next day.

That was a mistake.

* * *

Let me remind you all of one thing… REVIEW THE STORY ALREADY! 


	5. Drowning in the Past

Com'on people, review the story already!

* * *

Hiei and Ume followed the unusual couple all day long and they did nothing strange at all. The whole day had been wasted.

Tsume and Kurama had a fun time relaxing. It was getting late and Kurama headed to the library because he promised he'd check out any books on wolf demons or demons. Tsume tagged along to help. They only found one single book by some man named Dai Fujita.

When Tsume had asked the librarian working there for a book on demons, the librarian told her that there was only one such book.

"Dai Fujita disappeared for several weeks before that book came out. Everyone figured he was making a biography or something real, but he came back with something about demons. Many people laughed at him. Dai tried to convince everyone that the book was about creatures that existed but he failed. Everyone thought he was crazy! He just went back to making non-fiction books." She told them.

"You'd think that children would at least want to read that book." Tsume said.

"Actually, the book is very bloody. It tells of 'demons'' habits and diets. Children aren't allowed to read it and those who are older wouldn't want to waste their time." She continued to talk, "You two may keep that book until the end of the cruise. I'll let you know if someone wants to borrow it. It's a pretty big book, so I'll just tell you this: Don't spend all your time reading that stupid thing and enjoy yourself here. Otherwise, you won't get your money's worth of relaxation."

"Well, you get what you paid for, but apparently, that saying doesn't work for us." Tsume joked. She was referring to the fact the tickets were free, thanks to Ko-Enma.

The two nodded. They went to Ume and Hiei's room and knocked on the door.

"It's open." Ume's voice was heard.

Kurama and Tsume went inside and saw the two in their beds, completely wiped out. Tsume dropped the giant book on Ume's dresser.

"What happened to you two?"

"You wouldn't believe how fast the stinkin' couple move. They went practically everywhere. Not to mention they did it in a hurry. If I didn't know better, I'd say they knew we were following them."

"We got the book you requested." Kurama said in sympathy for the two, and for Tsume and himself. The next day, they had to search the boat for strange things. He also told Ume and Hiei what the librarian had said about the book and its author.

Instantly, Ume jumped up from her bed and grabbed the book. She dumped it on to her bed. Kurama and Tsume stretched and left to go to their rooms so they'd have enough energy for the next day.

Ume opened her book and turned to the introduction. She looked at Hiei, "Don't you want to see what's in this book?"

"Not interested." He lied on his bed and flipped over to face the wall.

"I had finally found an entrance into the legendary Makai. Two demons saw me coming here. When I explained my situation to them; that I just wanted to learn about demons so humans could learn more about demons, they understood and promised to be my guide and protect me from other demons. They thought that if humans knew more about demons, they wouldn't hate them as much and the two worlds wouldn't fight as much." She read the introduction aloud.

"That's foolish. Humans wouldn't believe such a book." Hiei said, obviously more interested than he led Ume to believe.

"These demons appear to be wolf demons. It seems their last name was-" she didn't finish.

"What is it?" Hiei asked. "Is something the matter?"

"No." she continued on, "It seems their last name was Hogosha (see story 2, chapter 6 for details on that). Their first names, from my observations, are Mei (the female) and Kira (the male)." She finished reading the section of the book. "So that's what their names were."

"They were you parents?"

Ume nodded. She flipped to the page about wolf demons and began to read again.

"Wolf demons are powerful creatures. Some have two personalities, and others have a thing called mana. Those who have this can half infinite powers. This 'mana' grows more powerful due to anger or other strong emotions. Once it grows, it stays that way and continues to get more powerful every time. Only a rare amount of wolves have such a thing, and even if they do, most don't achieve the second 'level' before they die. Most die, trying to anger or sadden themselves to achieve the great powers." She took a deep breath. "Well, apparently I have the 'second personality' thing (see last couple of chapters of story 1 for details on that)."

"As for my wolf demon guides, they seem to be disliked by many demons and they help other humans. When passing by, other demons gave them, and their pack, dirty looks, especially if I am following the wolves around. They had a single child, a female. She was odd from most. Not only was she able to fight in the first three weeks of birth, but she had both two personalities and mana."

Hiei looked at her. "And that would be you."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Hiei…" she said, trying to sound sarcastic. Her thoughts were more focused on figuring out her past than trying to sound sarcastic towards Hiei. She read on, curious about her parents. There was only a small portion left. "Something happened, an incident. The wolves scattered from their den. The Hogosha family had left their pack to make sure some demon hunter wouldn't find the rest of them. The two leaders of the pack were unable to pass their child to safety with the rest. The Hogosha led me to a portal back to my world and told me to never return due to the danger and left. That was the last that was seen of them."

Ume finished reading and closed the book slowly. She threw the book at the wall. It made a loud _thump_.

Hiei sat on the edge of his bed, not knowing how to comfort his friend. Ume sat up which surprised Hiei. She smiled and assured him that she was fine. After lying on the bed, unsure if Ume was telling the truth, Hiei fell asleep.

About four hours later, it was slightly past 2:00 A.M., Hiei looked At Ume's bed. It was empty. He got up and looked about for her. He left to go to the deck and found Ume's clothes were on a chair by the side of the pool.

Ume was in the water in her a one piece. She began to swim laps in the pool until she stopped, grabbed her water bottle, and drank from it. As she drank it, she noticed touched her neck. She frantically dived underwater just as Hiei was approaching, still unnoticed to Ume.

Ume dove into the water. She found her necklace halfway down a drain at the bottom of the pool. She grabbed the metal string of the locket. It was stuck in the drain. Ume continued to pull at it but it wouldn't give. It just stayed there. Ume kept on trying until she eventually ran out of air. She knew she couldn't let go or the item would be lost. She wasn't going to let that happened. So she held on. She eventually black out, her hand was still holding on to the locket though.

Hiei saw bubbles arise from the water. It occurred to him that the air bubbles were Ume's oxygen coming up. He threw off his cape and dove into the water.

Once in the water, he saw Ume immediately. She grabbed her and saw her hand had clenched onto some string. Hiei's first reaction was to cut it but he stopped. He finally noticed it was Ume's locket. Hiei pulled on the locket until it finally came loose, threw it up to the surface, and helped Ume up as well.

Ume lied on the side of the pool, breathing very slowly. Hiei panicked. He didn't know what to do when someone had nearly drowned. Being killed was something he knew more about. He stood over Ume. He had to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He bent lower and closer to Ume…then…she woke up. (Tsume got her almost-kissing scene too. Now it's Ume's turn)

She looked up and saw Hiei right above her. She got up and made Hiei fall over.

"What the…!"

"You were…drowning…and I had to save you…and…" Hiei stammered as he talked.

"Uh…thanks, Hiei…but if anyone asks, this lil get-together never happened."

Hiei nodded. He looked at Ume's outfit. "Why are you in a one piece? I thought you told-"

"Funny story about that…" Ume cut him off. She blushed. A lot. Not only because she had almost 'kissed' Hiei, not only because she was caught lying, but because, once again, she was talking about thing she was not used to. And to Hiei of all people. "I didn't really lie. I said I bought a two piece, and I did. I just returned it afterwards and got a one. Heh. You can't expect me to go around with a two…"

"No. I suppose not…" he paused for a moment. "Let's get back. It's cold and you should dry yourself before you become ill. If we were to encounter the demons, I don't think you'll fight very well if you are unwell."

She nodded in response and grabbed her belongings and began to leave. Just as she was doing so, she remembered her locket. She asked Hiei here it was. They looked about the pool and didn't see it anywhere.

"Hiei, is it down the drain…?"

"No. I threw it to the surface and heard it make a sound when it hit the top."

"Odd. I can't find it anywhere…You don't think-" Ume was cut off by a sound heard on the other side of the deck.

* * *

Another pretty good ending. I just hope the end of the story will be this good…anyways…I'm going to tell you people this one more time…REVIEW THE STORY! Oh, and sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I was having writer's block, not to mention I couldn't get the computer without my sisters being there…they still don't know I make stories. Heh. But that's what you get for not reviewing! 


	6. Imprint of the Past

New chapter is in. The days have been long (literally) but one thing makes the sun fall, and the moon rise, and the stars glitter…ok…enough of the poetry. Let's get on with the story: sighs deeply:

* * *

A shadow dashed around the corner. Ume and Hiei crept towards it. Something behind them dropped. Something metal. It rolled and dropped into the pool. The shadow scurried away and the two demons lost whatever was there. Lucky for them, the stranger abandoned the locket by accident when s/he ran away. Ume picked it up quickly while Hiei dove into the water and looked around for the metal thing.

He rose to the surface and handed Ume what he found. It was a small, metal tube. They figured it was deliberately thrown so the person/demon they were chasing could have a chance to run away before s/he was caught.

Hiei threw the tube off the boat and into the water. Ume once again gathered her belongings, with some help from Hiei, and they went back to their room.  
-  
The next day, the positions were switched. It was Hiei and Ume's turn to relax for a day, and they spent up until 11:30 A.M. sleeping in. They were completely exhausted while Tsume and Kurama searched the boat from top to bottom and occasionally spied on the couple. They managed to learn only a few things about the couple.

They were recently married and the woman's last name was officially Mrs. Takahashi (the guy who sings two YYH songs, Takahashi Hiro. Heh, I used his name in the FanFic…).

While searching through unlocked rooms for any clues that might indicate the residents were demons, Kurama and Tsume stumbled upon a small box with a large padlock that kept it locked. Tsume began to pick at it but it wouldn't open.

"If Ume was here, she'd probably get this stupid thing open." Tsume sighed.

"Well, she and Hiei aren't on duty today, so we are the ones who must get this open and see what's inside."

They looked around the room until Kurama finally found a rather large key and he tried it on the lock. It opened, making a _click_-ing sound. Inside, there was some soft fabric. In the fabric, there seemed to be two special places for necklace like jewelry boxes have. The places looked like imprints. Like the things were there before. One was in a heart shape. The other looked like it was for some normal stone.

Suddenly, there was noise coming from behind the door. Slowly, the door knob began to turn. Tsume and Kurama jumped for the bathroom and closed the door. A man stepped into the room while holding the room's key in one hand. It wasn't the same man who they've been tailing from time to time. It was a younger looking one. The man was had a more than decent appearance, if you put aside the fact that he looked like he had just gotten from riding a 2 hour long joyride on a bullet train with his head sticking out the window.

"Oki, did you leave the stinkin' door unlocked?" The man shouted out loud. He saw the bathroom closed and tried to open it. Lock. "Woman, get out here soon. Once we get to dry land, we have got to get off this stupid ship. We've also gotta get our bonuses. And their on this ship, I saw them earlier. Finally, we'll get them back and our little box here will be full." He grinned widely as he patted the small jewelry box Kurama and Tsume were examining earlier.

"Bonuses…?" The couple said in unison, still locked in the bathroom.

The man began to leave, "We have to get those things before the ship docks."

Kurama and Tsume left a huge sigh of relief and left quietly after making sure the man was gone. They ran to the deck and sat down on two chairs breathlessly. After catching their breaths, they reviewed everything that happened that day with Ume and Hiei. They were found in the dojo again, training.

"You've got to be kidding me…You two are supposed to be enjoying yourselves, not training and working. This trip is a once in a lifetime chance, and you two are blowing it on training." Tsume exclaimed.

"I can't say relaxing is anymore useful." Hiei snapped at Tsume. He turned his head to do so and Ume kicked him to some guy that was watching. He had no chance to get out of the way. They both slammed into the wall.

"Sorry about that!" Ume called out. "That was completely my fault."

She helped both boys up and the boy walked off to the infirmary with the help of some of his friends.

"Sorry again!" She called out as the boy was being carried away. The boy waved his hand into the air, showing he was alright. The Ume turned to Tsume. "You two spend your vacation your way, we can spend it ours. Besides, I can't stand one day, much less a couple of weeks, without training. It makes me feel lazy and bored."

"What ever. I'm just saying that training isn't the best was to relax."

"Eck."

The two girls turned around and saw the room was empty except for Hiei and Kurama who were battling it out.

"KURAMA! Not you too!"

"Why don't you join us? It's more enjoyable than continuing to search the ship." Kurama said.

"OK!"

"You should try to think for yourself instead of letting Kurama do it for you and…what was it again…? Oh yea. Get a life!" Ume said jokingly.

Tsume laughed.

"What about you and Hiei? I can't say you're exactly the most independent person when it comes to him…" She countered with a grin.

Ume waved her fist and pretty soon, they started to train too. The four were eventually tired. All the others that were in the dojo, including the staff, had either gone to help the boy or ran for their lives when Hiei and Ume first appeared in the room.

The four sat down on the sides and the people began to reappear and train themselves. The group got some water bottles that were on a table nearby. The four went to some restaurant in the food court and each ordered their food. They sat in a booth and Tsume and Kurama told Hiei and Ume what had happened earlier.

"Well, that'd definitely make them suspicious…" Tsume ended her story

"So…We've got four strange people. Two of them said something about shipping things, and we still have a boat of people we need to check out. This is going great so far..." Ume said sarcastically. "Some trip this turned out to be. Not exactly what I had in mind when Ko-Enma told us we were going on a cruise."

"He did say it was for an assignment, and that's never enjoyable." Hiei stated.

"True…" Ume agreed. She continued to talk, "So all we know is that there are two people who were completely clam when someone fell over board, and some other people who are sending things around and has a strange box. Not much for Hiei and I to go on tomorrow, but it's better than nothing."

"All the other guests were normal. It's just those four that are strange." Tsume spoke up.

Something in the room began to ring. Tsume took out something from her pocket that looked like a compact…a ringing compact… (In the anime, those things were used for communication from Maze Castle to the human world between Yusuke and Botan. They are now being used again just in case you didn't know what they are)

"Oh, did I mention that Ko-Enma gave these things to me. He told me to give them to the rest of you. I guess it must have slipped my mind. The rest of them are in my suitcase." Tsume answered her small compact-looking device and Botan appeared on the small screen.

"Tsume, are all of you there?"

"Yep."

"Good. Spirit World has been trying to reach you guys. This was the only one that would reply. Back to the point, according to our records of the demons you're after, they appear to be very powerful. Be careful not to endanger anyone else's lives. If you battle it out on that boat, it might sink, along with all the humans on it."

"Ok." Tsume replied. She turned off the small contraption by closing it and began to grin at the others. "Sorry about forgetting…"

"Finally! It looks like this small, little boat ride will get a little more exciting once we find those demons…" Ume said.

"But we mustn't fight them on the boat. Innocent humans will get involved and injured." Kurama warned them.

"Humans are anything but innocent…" Hiei replied.

"That just makes it more interesting for us. After all, what's the fun in just finding them and not having them fight us back?" She grinned and rubbed her hands together. "Besides, Hiei and I have been training a lot so far. It's about time we have something to test all that training on."

"That's IF we find them before they get off this boat. If we can't find them, or fail, Yusuke and Kuwabara will have to take over. It's a round trip. If we don't make it back to the boat once it docks LA, we'll be stuck there until the next plane. We'll be stuck with Yusuke and Kuwabara the whole way back…"

"Jeez. Don't remind me, Tsume. That's one really good reason we can't fail this. And, of course, we won't." Ume responded.

Hiei already got up to leave. Everyone started rising from their seats and began to head to their rooms, but unknown to them, someone was listening to the four talking in a booth beside them. Thanks to the way the person/demon was sitting, s/he was not seen.

* * *

Yay! Chapter 6 is FINALLY in. I've been having a whole mess writer's block lately. I've probably used a lot of my writing ideas and energy on writing love poems. I've written them before, but this month (It is April of 2005 right now), I've been on a roll!

Note: I made some TINY, TINY adjustments to the fourth chapter. You can choose to read it or not but I suggest that you do. It near the ending when Ume was leaving the art room. If you read that, you'll understand more about what I am planning to do for the ending chapters. It has something to do with that change so I think you should read it. Thank you for your time and thank you for reading this far. Please review my story. Good-bye. Change was made on 4/20/05, so you might have already read the change…


	7. Flashback

Heh…this chapter is done. Finally, I got 2 reviews! This chapter is mostly on Hiei's flashback on some person thing…not saying anything…shutting up now…

* * *

"What's wrong Hiei?" was the first thing Ume said to Hiei the next day. "You've been acting strangely ever since the accident last night." Ume grabbed Hiei's arm.

He pulled his away. "Nothing is wrong."

Ume stood there, sadden that Hiei had rejected her so strangle and hurt that Hiei wouldn't tell what was wrong. "I know you. You are quiet a lot, but you don't make smart remarks or insults anymore and you're a lot quieter now. I've known you long enough to know that something's up. Now spill."

"Nothing's wrong!" he said angrily. He turned his back coldly and began to leave. "Look, we'll cover more ground if we search separately."

"O…o…k…" Ume managed to say.

Hiei sat down on in the hall, listening to the conversations of people passing by and seeing if he can hear anyone talking inside the rooms. Ume had left to other hallways already. Hiei looked up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and remembered something that happened a long time ago in his youth…something that was triggered in his memory when Ume nearly drowned.

_Flashback…_

Small spoiler of the actual series: This occurrence happened after Hiei lost Hina's (his mother's) tear jewel, he got the Jagan implanted, and trained with Shigure-

Two small demon boys were nearing the unusually calm waters of a river. They noticed something that was in the river…some kind of shape. The boys pointed at it.

It was nothing more than a child. It was about the same age as Hiei was back then. Hiei observed the cruelty of what happened next. The two demon boys jumped into the water and grabbed the head of the creature and held it over the water.

The face was shadowed in Hiei's mind. He just couldn't remember what it looked like.

The boys then started to dunk the creature's head into the water for a few minutes, bring it back up, taunt it, and stick it back in the water. The small creature desperately gasped for air every time it was brought to the surface. It was near to passing out. The boys saw that it was and they drew her to the ground beside them.

Hiei thought for a second that they had stopped the torment and was about to leave now that the fun was over. But he didn't. He turned to see that the boys were now kicking at the demon. The boys were yelling things at the demons as it lied there, half-dead, on the floor. Hiei got closer to hear what they were yelling out.

"It's your fault we're picking on you. You just had to be one of THEM!" and "You don't belong here. This is where we and the rest of us normal demons go. Go back to where you belong, you pathetic halfling!" was what the boys kept repeating to the demon as it was getting kicked repeatedly.

Hiei stared at the creature, almost sympathetically. He obviously understood how it was to be shunned. Hiei jumped down from the branch of the tree. When he reached the bottom, huge amounts of Demon Energy and Spirit Energy exploded from the small creature. It blew the two demons away but only a small bit.

The creature grabbed its head and slowly fell to the ground once again. The boys slowly approached it and were getting ready to kick it again when one of them let out a bloodcurdling scream. He fell to the ground in two halves and Hiei was standing behind him with his katana out.

The other demon cursed at first and then ran away. Hiei didn't let him escape. He cut him into two halves as well.

He went back to the demon that was on the ground. He looked at it. It was a girl. Hiei remembered being surprised at her, how cut up her face was, not to mention the fact the girl as in a huge, black dress, the kind that humans would probably wear to fancy parties. Hiei was surprised to see so many cuts were all over her body. The girl began to wake up. She thanked the stranger for helping her. Hiei couldn't quite remember what her voice sounded like.

"Why did those demons kick you and tried to kill you? You don't seem worth the effort." He called saying to the creature.

"Demons do that to me. If makes them happy for some sick reason, but I'm used to it by now." She smiled up at Hiei. Her face was still shadowed by Hiei's memory. A fake smile…a smile like that could have fooled anyone, especially someone who barely knew what a smile was. Hiei remembered being tricked.

"You shouldn't be smiling. You should have killed those pathetic weaklings off."

"Why?"

Hiei was bewildered by this question.

"Would that have made the countless other demons stop? It'd probably just make them angrier…"

He was amazed and stunned for a second. No demon in Makai had ever spoken in such a way before. "What kind of idiotic thing did you do to make so many demons angry with you?"

"I was born as the kind of demon I am…"

Hiei was still confused.

"What's with the dress? You don't see anything like that here."

"Truthfully, I don't enjoy wearing these rags…"

Hiei looked at it. It was in perfect condition (except for all the dirt that just got on thanks to the demon boys).

"I despise dresses but my parents and all made me wear this. They told me to leave for a while and to be careful…and I can see why." She stared and the halves of demons left over. "My parents are probably fighting off other demons that want our blood and told me to leave to avoid getting hurt…"

"Learn how to fight. That's what you need to do Girl. If you continue to be as weak as you are, you'll die. This time, you just got lucky someone was near…"

"'Someone'…? Don't you mean 'I'?"

"No. I meant 'Someone'. I wouldn't have helped if curiousity didn't get the best of me…"

The girl stared at Hiei. "What is your name stranger?"

"Why would you care?" Hiei knew that once the girl got to know how ruthlessly he killed demons since his childhood, she'd shun him too. He figured there was no point in letting her know his name.

Just then, in Hiei's memory, the demon's face slowly started to become clear.

"Curious, that's all. Would you like to know my name? I'd rather have you call me by it instead or 'Girl'…"

"Hn."

"Well, it's…"

Hiei's flashback stopped. He felt something tapping on his head. He opened his eyes and looked up. Hiei saw a man, the same man whose Tsume and Kurama entered the other day.

"Hey kid," the man said to Hiei, "I don't want you sitting by my door, got that?" he waited until Hiei got up before he went into his room and slammed the door.

Soon enough, Ume came walking down the hallway with the man's wife. They were talking and stopped in front of Hiei.

"Uh…hi, Hiei…"

Hiei gave her s strange look. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I must be going now." The lady cut in. She went into her room with the man.

Ume and Hiei left and Ume began to explain. "Have you ever heard of the saying: 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer'? Well, that's what I'm doing, so don't give me any looks."

He nodded slightly and continued to stare at Ume.

"What? What's wrong!"

"Nothing…"

"And here we go again…" she rolled her eyes.

In the hall, they saw Hoshi again. He saw Ume and stopped walking and starting talking to her.

"Great…." Ume mumbled to herself.

Hiei stared at Ume and then Hoshi. He left for the room. Ume tried going after him but Hoshi stopped her.

"I didn't see you at the dance."

"I was busy I guess…" she tried circling the boy but she couldn't get around him.

"There's going to be a private party in a couple of days. It hasn't been planned for sure but I can get you an invite. Not only that, but maybe…"

"Hmm…let me think about there…I'll probably take a few days." She coughed loudly and at the same time she said something to herself. "Or a few weeks…"

"I can also get you invites for your friends."

"Hmm…in that case, I'll need five including myself."

"Alright, I'll tell you when the party is." He left.

"About time that guy left…Well, at least Kurama, Tsume, and Hiei will have fun…" she sighed.

* * *

Please review…Don't make me beg! 


	8. Messy Suspicions

Haven't been on the computer much…

* * *

Hiei was in the room. The doorknob started to turn but the door wouldn't open. He locked it. Hiei pretended to be asleep. The door suddenly flew open. Ume stepped in and saw Hiei on the bed.

"I know you're awake, Hiei!"

He faked a snore and then he kicked up his blanket a little. Ume threw her pillow at him. He threw his back. Ume threw her blanket and wrapped Hiei in it. While he tried to get out, Ume hit him with her pillow and laughed. A few moments later, the floor was covered with feathers from the pillows and stuffing from the blankets. It was a complete mess.

Slowly, Ume got up and looked around. She started picking up the trash and Hiei got up to help silently.

"What-" she stopped herself from saying 'What's wrong?'

Hiei glanced at Ume's way every now and then while they were cleaning.

"What did you talk to that human about?" he asked, not looking up from the stuffing he was picking up.

"Some party…" Ume said slowly, making sure she didn't say anything wrong.

"I hope you enjoy it with him."

"No…wait…Hiei…you, Kurama, Tsume, and I are all going."

Hiei looked up at her. "Hn."

"Well, I like you saying 'Hn' more than you saying nothing to me." She grinned. "Anyways, the couple we follow was married for about 3 years now. They live in a house in Nagoya and are here on vacation. That's what they say anyways. No concrete proof that's they're lying or telling the truth."

"It's better than nothing. Go on, what else did you get out of them?"

"Well, apparently, when I asked about their home, they not only mentioned a street that didn't exist, but they even said they owned a dojo. Now, I seriously doubt that. There aren't that many dojos there (actually, about 6. I checked at google). Not to mention that they mention many mountains, rivers, trees, skyscrapers, apartments, factories, oh, not to mention rainforests. I'll take a guess and say they mixed all kinds of scenery just because they have no idea what the place looks like."

"That makes them slightly suspicious."

"Ya think?"

"Let's keep finding what we can about them then…"

"Hiei, seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"Hn? What are you talking about?"

"Well, for one, you won't make eye contact with me. Two, you won't talk. Three, you act like something's bugging you, and you're not good at covering it up."

Hiei didn't reply. Someone knocked at the door. It was Kurama and Tsume.

"Hey you two, dinner's almost ready in the dining hall! The ship is serving a huge dinner! You can tell us all about what you found out today. Oh, and Ume, some guy named Hoshi gave Kurama and me invites to some party. He told us to give you two ones as well. Here." Tsume handed Hiei and Ume small envelopes.

Hiei tossed his on his bed and went on ahead. Ume simply puts hers on a nightstand near her bed and went with the others. They had gone pretty far and Ume quickly rushed out of her room.

Once in the giant dining hall, Ume found that Hiei already told the others what had happened with the strange couple. Of course, he left out the part where he fell asleep. They had a pretty fun time. Hiei was acting like his normal, still-cold-but-not-as-much self again…mostly.

Ume and Hiei got back to their rooms first. The other two were just looking at the ocean. When Hiei and Ume got back, they were surprised to see clothes were on the floor and beds, and the beds were turned to their sides, papers were everywhere, Hiei's katana was on the floor and his sheath was in the bathroom, his bandages were everywhere, Ume's small box (where she kept her locket) was on the floor, broken. Basically, it was a huge mess. Hiei and Ume went through there things and nothing seemed to be stolen.

"Looks like someone was looking for something and didn't find what they were looking for." Ume noted.

Hiei began to pick up his stuff and Ume picked up hers. Pretty soon, Kurama and Tsume knocked on the door.

"I can't believe this! Our room was completely trashed!" Tsume shouted as soon as the door was opened for her and Kurama. She took a look around. "Same thing with you guys?"

"No kidding…anything missing from your place."

"Nothing at all was missing." Kurama replied.

"It is the same situation here." Hiei stated.

"So someone was looking for something and couldn't find it. Who ever it was, they had to be sure we were the ones who had it. They knew so, but what ever they were looking for, wasn't in our rooms at the time." Ume gathered from the looks of things. "This is my fault. I forgot to lock the door before we left."

Hiei glared at Ume and simply said, "It doesn't matter. They got into Tsume and Kurama's room, and it was locked. The person or persons must have had a key of some kind to get in without causing damage."

"Well, they did a good job of not 'causing damage'." Tsume said sarcastically.

"I meant from the outside…where's it's noticeable…"

Ume took another look around their room. She suddenly realized something. When she came in and was cleaning up with Hiei, she hadn't smelled anything out of place in the room. No strange scent at all. It was odd, considering the fact she was a wolf demon and would be able to smell pretty much anything. She immediately headed to her friends' room, but not before checking their lock. It was opened like Hiei had suggested. A key had been used.

She went inside the room. Nothing (besides the mess) was strange. No scent once again. Whoever snuck into their rooms had been careful not to leave fingerprints, a scent, or anything at all. Whoever it was, s/he knew one of the rooms belonged to a wolf demon and Spirit Detectives!

The other three came in and Ume told them of her discoveries.

"Do you think it could it have been that creepy couple who came in here?" Tsume wondered.

"It's possible I guess…If it's them, they already know I'm a wolf demon, and I don't think that's possible. I haven't used a single ounce of my Spirit Energy so far, I haven't done anything the least bit wolfish or demon-related. How could they have known?"

"Maybe they noticed something when Kurama used his Rose Whip to save the dummy that fell into the water…"

"This is all too strange." Kurama declared.

Ume decided to take a small stroll by herself to clear her mind. She headed out to the deck. She stood on the edge with her hands off the boat. Suddenly hand grabbed her shoulder. It was Hoshi. At first, he did nothing but stare at Ume. Then he shook his head around and began to talk.

"I suppose I'll you at the party tomorrow night? It'll be the night right before we get to LA."

"It will? That's when it is? I didn't take a look at your invitation. Sorry." She smiled a fake smile, although she purposely made it fake-looking. "Look Hoshi, I'm not in the mood for this. Please just leave." She continued to lean on the side of the boat and closed her eyes. She opened one only to see Hoshi still there.

"What? Did you run into trouble back in your rooms? Well, ok then. I guess I'll leave."

Something clicked in Ume's mind. She just realized Hoshi was part of the staff. Hoshi knew something happened in their rooms. He worked in the art section of the boat. He might have keys to the rooms, or know where they were kept!

* * *

Not only was I not allowed on the computer much, I had no ideas. I've been using too much imagination on other junkies…my head hurts…but I still managed to finish this…hope you had fun…Now I'm gonna go and rub my head…and sleep…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… 


	9. New Info

Review people! Don't make me beg! Too late! PLEASE!

* * *

Ume turned around and saw that Hoshi was no longer there. Once she really thought about it, Ume felt like she knew Hoshi form somewhere. Of course she wouldn't remember. Most of her childhood was a blur. The only parts she remembered were after her new, human parents took her in. She left where she stood to go find Hoshi and find out what he meant earlier.

Tsume walked down the halls of the boat. She started looking for Ume when she noticed Ume looking upset (as you have read in the last story, they both had the small 'jewel' things. Ever since, they had a small connection and a close friendship). She noticed the captain of the boat walking around. He entered the room of Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi. Tsume heard voices inside.

"You want to quit?"

"For the past several days, we have been pretending to be guests to check up on everyone. To make sure everyone's having a good time! Well, everyone is having fun BUT us!" Mrs. Takahashi said out loud. "We are tired of this!"

Mr. Takahashi said calmly, "We can't quit in the middle of this cruise. We don't have the money to pay for it if we do. Not to mention we won't get paid."

"We should! We spent most of this working, so we should get paid, and we shouldn't have to pay them because this wasn't pleasant!"

"Sweetie, calm down. If we don't get paid, we can't afford that heart necklace and circular necklace you saw in Japan while we were visiting your mother."

While the three continued to argue on, Tsume put two and two together. The box for jewelry was for the necklaces they wanted! The reason they were calm when the dummy fell over board was because they knew about it. They worked here! They were all over the boat and everything was only because it was their job to do so!

She quickly hurried away and bumped right into Ume.

"Sorry." Ume told Tsume hastily. She didn't even notice it was Tsume that she bumped into. Quickly, Tsume grabbed Ume and looked for the boys. "What the heck?" Ume shouted out.

As they ran, Tsume told her what she had heard earlier. "That would pretty much mean they're innocent right?"

"Yea…but who are the demons who stole from Spirit World…?"

"Who knows? One thing for sure is we're running out of time! The ship will dock in about two days and if we don't at least find out who the demons are, there's no way Kuwabara and Yusuke will know who to stop. They'll get away."

Ume sighed. "There must be someone or something we missed…" before she could even get out the words, she thought of someone. Hoshi!

Ume left Tsume to find the guys by herself and ran to the art room. She looked around quickly. Tsume joined Ume, panting for air. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, breathlessly.

Ume looked around. No Hoshi. She ran up to Mrs. Kyoko and asked her where Hoshi was.

"The cruise is almost over. When this happens, he takes more and longer breaks to enjoy the cruise. Every member of the crew did so at one point of the cruise."

"Do you have any idea where he is?"

"Sorry dear, I don't know where he goes during his breaks. Is anything wrong?"

"No. I've got to go. Bye!" she ran out and grabbed Tsume on her way out.

Tsume stopped Ume in the hallway. "What's going on?"

"The guy I was asking for earlier, Hoshi, I think he may have something to do with the missing artifacts."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's a long story."

Just then, they ran into Hiei and Kurama. Once everyone got up, they looked outside. It was already really dark. Nearly no one was out. Already past 10 PM, Kurama and Hiei had decided to look for the girls, worried. They all went back to their rooms and went to sleep. Ume lied on her bed and started to think about the day's events. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep.

Something shook Ume from her sleep. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Tsume. She was about to speak but Tsume cut her off. She pointed over to Hiei, still asleep, and signaled Ume not to make too much noise. They got out to the hallway and Ume asked Tsume what dragging her out of bed was about.

"Tonight's going to be the party right (it's past midnight)? That Hoshi guy was the one who gave us invites so he's gonna have to be there. I haven't told Kurama or Hiei about this but when he gave me the invitations, something didn't seem right about him. I'm getting that weird feeling you guys were talking about that other day...The feeling was faint, but it was there. Something's not right with that guy…but the thing is that I don't think he's a part of the theft. He's done something, but he didn't steal."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Not completely. That's why I asked you to come out here. You're gonna help me find out."

"What about the boys?"

"You heard Hiei. He doesn't think I have that 'strange feeling' thing yet, and I don't want to make my self look like a fool in front of Kurama."

Ume let out a sigh, "Alright. What are we going to do first?"

"First, we're going to sneak a peek at Hoshi's files. Find out where he lives and everything just to make sure he's clean."

"Ok. Let's go already. I'm missing sleep…" she let out a yawn.

The two girls snuck into the file area of the boat after Ume picked the lock of the door. They looked everywhere and finally found the file. Everything in it seemed to be in check.

"Well, if this guy's a demon, he's better at hiding it than most others I've encountered." Ume stated.

"That's true."

Ume began to open one last file there was on Hoshi when footsteps were suddenly heard outside. A man walked in. Ume and Tsume quickly put back the records and quickly hid in the room. The man's face was concealed by shadows. Ume studied the man and noted that he was too tall to be Hoshi or Mr. Takahashi, so who was he? The man walked over to Hoshi's files and took looked through them. He scanned one and put it in the trench coat he was wearing. He rushed out hurriedly. Ume and Tsume got up from their hiding spot and saw the file the man took was the same one Ume was just about to look at earlier.

"What do you think was in that file he took?" Tsume pondered.

"Something that might've helped us I'm guessing. Let's switch the question from what was the file to who was the one who took it?" Ume replied.

"How about we tail him?"

"Sure, why not? It's not like I was planning to SLEEP tonight anyways…" Ume said sarcastically.

Down the hall they went, following the man but making sure they stayed far enough so that he didn't see or hear them. A paper fell from the file he had and as soon as he was far enough, Tsume picked it up. As soon as she looked up, the man disappeared. He probably went into one of the rooms. Ume took the paper and looked through it.

Ume read through the first few sentences. Not much info. Things started to get interesting, and as it did so, a sudden crash of glass breaking was heard.

* * *

Hehe; this was a pretty good ending to this chapter. I couldn't think of many ideas. That's why it took so long to get this chapter out. My mind was……preoccupied…… 


	10. Past of the Wolf Boy

People, people! Com'on! Review already! This chapter is reveals everything you need to know about Hoshi...although the title is a dead give away… Later! Sorry for any typos.

* * *

A small child ran out of a room, frightened of something, and screaming something about a monster. Tsume and Ume automatically assumed the 'monster' was one of the demons they were looking for.

Tsume grabbed hold of the child and sat her down in the hallway as her mother approached. The two young girls tried to calm the little girl down and they finally figured out that the child had simply had a nightmare, woke up, and was so scared, she broke something while running.

"Thank you so much for catching my little girl." The mother said and went on her way.

The sun had already come out and people left their rooms and checked out the commotion. Ume hid the paper and left back to her room with Tsume right behind her.

Tsume entered her room and woke up Kurama. He got up quickly and they both hurried to Ume and Hiei's room. They walked in just as Ume got Hiei awake and then she started to explain were doing earlier. Ume took out the paper she got and told everyone that it was an adoption papers.

"The man who took some papers probably took all the adoption papers. This is, I'm guessing, the most important one. When he was found on the streets of outer Japan, he kept talking to himself about needing to find his 'own kind'. He was looking for a child. He was very ill and the orphanage that took him in believed that was why he kept talking like that. Soon enough, when he was old enough to understand that people thought he was strange, he stopped, but some still think he is still looking for someone. Apparently, the person he was searching for loved art so my guess is that he is sill looking for that person. That's why he needs to get into that art school. That's pretty much all that is said in the paper."

"So who could he possibly be looking for?" Tsume questioned.

"Something's not right here…" Hiei murmured.

"Hiei is right. There's something about him. What do you two think? Could he be our demon? Is so, who is his partner?" Kurama spoke up.

"According to Ume, Hoshi is a strange one, and may be hiding something, but he isn't likely to steal or anything like that. It's some feeling of her…" Tsume informed the boys, despite the fact that Ume was waving her arms around in protest behind Hiei and Kurama.

"Is that so? And how would she know so much about that human?" Hiei said irritably. Ume smacked herself in the forehead and glanced up smiling innocently at Hiei.

"It's one of those feelings again. No big deal…" she grinned widely.

Kurama broke in before things got ugly. "Maybe we should go back to the Hoshi case. We only have a limited amount of time before we dock. The party is tonight (it is already morning in case you lost track of time. It's the morning of party. Docking at night, everyone can leave at day then come back later) and if we find out nothing today, we have to make sure we get something out of him tonight."

"Uh huh..." Tsume said.

Hiei mumbled to himself and Ume remained silent and just nodded.

The day just flew by and nothing new was discovered. From time to time, one of the four saw Hoshi but he'd disappear the next second. That very night, the party was upon them. Decoration of every color filled the dock with countless amounts of people every where but not a single person was enjoying themselves. Everyone sat or stood in small groups away from everyone else.

Word was out that there were priceless artifacts aboard the boat. The added thing was that whoever found them had to announce it to everyone, give it to a certain someone, and they'd receive a huge reward. The group of Spirit Detectives had no idea who let this piece of accurate gossip out but if the artifacts were found, the demons who stole it would react, and that would help their case…but someone wanted to receive the relics and knew about them somehow.

Hoshi was spotted by the a few chairs set up around a table that could seat a total of five. The Spirit Detectives each sat next to Hoshi and he greeted them nervously. He quickly slipped something into his pocket. Hiei saw him doing so. He grabbed Hoshi's hand, pulled it from his pockets and revealed one of the stolen artifacts! Everyone eyed him. Hoshi let out a sigh.

"I guess I should start explaining myself eh?"

A large explosion occurred on the other side of the boat and smoke rose into the air. People scrambled every where. In all the confusion, Hoshi managed to escape. Tsume and Kurama were going to check out the explosion and calm the people down as much as they could. Hiei was to look for whoever caused the explosion. Ume had to look for Hoshi.

She spotted him turning a corner and ran after him. She grabbed him by the shoulder and he turned around.

"Listen Hoshi…" Ume was cut off.

"I know who triggered the blast. You may think it was me, but it wasn't!"

"Then what about that artifact you had with you?"

Another explosion moved the boat about. Another couple appeared from the next hall and grabbed Hoshi. The man yelled something out about Hoshi stealing from them and hit him in the face. Hoshi flew through the air and crashed through a wall. The artifact he had earlier fell and the man grabbed hold of it and smirked. He looked up at Ume who was amazed. The woman came from behind of Ume and grabbed both her arms and held them up.

"Who do you think you are, Girl?"

"Hey, only ONE person is allowed to call me that!" Ume shouted and flipped the woman over and right into the man.

Hoshi got up from the rubble and grabbed Ume's wrist and started to run for it. "I'll explain as soon as we get to a safe area."

Once reaching a random, unlocked room, Hoshi began to explain what this was all about. "Those two that attacked us just now are the real thieves. They're the ones who stole the artifacts and I took one of them. I was the one who stole the files the other night. I was wearing a kind of elevator shoes, hat, trench coat, and the works to make sure no one would be able to recognize me. I guess it worked."

"Anyways, all that stuff you found on the paper I dropped was a lie. I knew it was only a matter of time until you and your friends found out so I took it. I only used those lies to get on the boat to steal the artifact of Spirit World which rightly belonged to my kind!"

Hoshi's last two words rung in Ume's head, "…my kind…" She's definitely heard that somewhere before...

"There was no way for me to get them while they were in the Spirit World's vault," he continued on, "so I just decided to take it from these jokers. I figured if I got everything else back and returned them to Spirit World secretly with a note saying that I took one of them along with me, they'd let me keep it."

"Why would you need only one artifact?"

"It belongs to my pack…o_ur_ pack."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The relic I was looking for belongs to the wolf demons. I recognized you easily. You were the daughter of the leaders of our pack. I wasn't expecting to see you here of all places. I see you're a Spirit Detective now."

"Great. So how strong are the _real _thieves?"

"They're strong enough to sink this whole ship and swim the rest of the way to LA, that's for sure. We're not that far at this point."

"Great. Does that artifact you want do anything in particular?"

"It belonged to your ancestors. It belonged to our, or should I say my past leaders. That's why it's so important. I came here and left the pack as soon as I found out it was out for the taking. It can't do anything like the Forlorn Hope, it that's what you're thinking."

"How abut a truce? You help my friends and me with our job, and I'll make sure you get your relic back? Got it?"

Hoshi thought for a moment. The closet door came crashing down and there stood the two demons. "Found you!"

Hoshi and Ume both got up and he stared at Ume. "Ok, deal!"

* * *

There's a small twist. I finished this whole chapter in about 30 minutes just right now. Not too bad if I do say so myself. I haven't been having many ideas again… 


	11. Docking

A black shadow appeared for a split second at the corner of Ume's eye. She grinned. Calmly, Ume got up to her feet and starting counting down from eight (why eight you ask? Because this is kind of like what my friend does. Hehe) so softly that only Hoshi was able to hear her. When she finally reached zero, she kicked the woman and she flew to the wall. The man was about to hit Ume for what she did but he screamed out in pain instead.

The demon staggered backwards. Hiei appeared at the entrance to the closet and helped Ume out. Kurama and Tsume appeared and stared at Hoshi. They were about to question when Ume spoke up.

"Don't worry everyone. He's on our side for now. I'll explain later. Right now, just concentrate on those two." She pointed to the male demon helping the female demon up.

The three looked at one another in confusion. Hoshi was worried that they wouldn't believe Ume. He was surprised to see that they nodded and trusted Ume, a wolf demon, so easily. He started to wonder if they even know, but as he was thinking, Ume switched to her wolf demon form. Once again, Hoshi was surprised.

He got up and hit one of the demons. The female shot a blast at Ume. Hiei jumped in its path without taking _too_ much damage by using his katana. Ume jumped over Hiei and fired a blast right back at the demon.

"How…How could these beings still care for her even if she is a wolf demon? It should be in their blood to hate wolf demons even if they are helping humans too! Their ancestors must've hated wolf demons. What is wrong with these demons?" He kept wondering.

"Move you idiot!" was the last thing he heard. A giant blast of Demon Energy shot from the male demon and was coming right at him. It was a direct hit. He lied on the floor.

Ume and the others glanced back at him but were forced to focus on the fight. It was two against four but the Spirit Detectives were still having a hard time. Tsume was knocked to the floor along with Ume. They landed near the stolen artifact that Hoshi had possessed. It began to glow faintly.

Ume reached for it, but before she took hold of the old item, one of the demons took it. Kurama popped up and sliced the demon causing him to drop the artifact. It broke and inside was a jewel, the same kind as Ume's and Tsume's. Hiei grabbed it quickly and gave it to the girls.

They took it and the gem glowed more vividly. The light was so bright, the others could no loner see the two girls.

The next moment, the reappeared and the jewel was gone. A mix of Spirit Energy and Demon Energy erupted from the two demons that swept through the room affecting only the thieves. The others weren't hurt; their wounds were actually healing!

Hoshi began to rise and watched the girls' powers get stronger than before. The group headed towards where the demons were seen flying but they were no where to be seen.

"They must've fled as soon as Ume and Tsume got to that jewel…" Kurama figured.

"So I guess that means all we need to do now is find the artifacts and get that back to Ko-Enma." Tsume said.

Ume stared at Hoshi. "Well, I guess I can't fulfill my end of the deal. As you can see, the jewel is gone and the artifact is destroyed."

"It's fine. The relic belonged to the wolf tribe, and now, it'll stay in the wolf tribe…Well, half of it will." He looked at Tsume. She grinned innocently.

"Now, would you please tell us where the rest of the artifacts are? You did, after all, steal this one." She pointed at the broken treasure on the floor. "So where's the rest?"

Hoshi slowly rose and stared at Ume. "Now, I might have been able to sneak that artifact, but I do not know where the rest are. You are on your own there."

He started to take his leave. He turned around. "Make sure you and your friend there don't get yourselves killed. Remember, the jewel's inside you now. Don't mess up."

"Ha-ha, sure… No problem."

-

Land started coming into view as the boat approached dock. With the help of the Spirit Detectives, the staff, and several passenger volunteers, the explosions were fixed, but the reasons and cause of them remained unknown to the humans.

Getting off the boat, the group met up with Yusuke and Kuwabara, whom disappointed they couldn't go and beat up some demons before going back to Japan.

Hiei took one look at LA. "This place looks just as revolting as the rest of the Human World."

"Yea, Shorty. The Demon World, with all its bloodshed is soooo much better." Kuwabara said.

"Sarcasm from the idiot human who probably doesn't even know what 'sarcasm' means."

"I know what it means!"

"Hn."

"Can't you two ever stop fighting?" Ume interrupted.

Ume took a look around her and saw Hoshi sneaking off. Probably back to the Demon World.

Tsume took off ahead. She couldn't wait to go site-seeing. She tripped on a rock. Kurama hurried to her side and helped Tsume up while Yusuke and Kuwabara snickered at the two of them. The two boys went over to Kurama and started elbowing him, making fun of him. Ume laughed, amused.

Ume took a deep breathe of air and stared at Tsume. She grinned. As though Tsume read her mind, he grinned back and announced that she and Ume would take the long way home.

The boys stared at them. "You're actually walking back? You do know it's across the ocean, right?" Kuwabara asked.

"Row boats, sail boats, swimming, we can find some way to get across. Besides, I like a challenge. So, how about it? Last one back home cooks dinner and does the other one's homework AND chores for the next month."

"Make it two months and you're on! My place _could_ use a cleaning up."

"Now hold on! You girls can't go by yourselves." Kurama stated.

"You bakas (idiots) wouldn't last two minutes crossing all that distance." Hiei mumbled.

Tsume grinned at Ume. "Are you proposing to come along? If you _think_ you can handle it." she challenged.

"I was born and raised in the Demon World. I can last on my own better than either of you two."

"We'll come, but only to make sure you two don't get hurt…" Kurama said to stop Hiei from getting mad.

"Uh huh…sure…"

"Hey Yusuke, take our tickets for the cruise. You and Kuwabara and go home the easy way."

Yusuke and Kuwabara grinned, "You mean, we can go on that luxury cruise for free ALL the way back!"

They turned around and stared at the boat. When they looked back, Ume was already gone.

"Where did that… YOU CHEATER! GET BACK HERE! I'M NOT LOSING A BET TO YOU!" Tsume yelled out.

"First time for anything…" Ume cried out from a distance as Tsume and the two other boys ran after them. "See ya losers in Japan!"  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Here's another poll. Same rules as the last one are being used. The choices are:

Gundam SEED  
Rurouni Kenshin  
Zatch Bell!

If you have an anime you want me to write about, e-mail me and let me know. Of course, I need to be familiar with the anime.  
--poll closed--


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